1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fuse assemblies, and, more particularly, to a surface mounted fuse assembly in which a molded cover is permanently affixed over a standard tubular fuse.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various surface mounting soldering techniques have been developed for attaching electrical components to printed circuit boards. Surface mounting is advantageous in that it permits denser packaging by reducing both size and bulk, and reduces costs by speeding up assembly while saving materials.
Ordinarily, the surface mounting of cylindrical components such as standard tubular fuses is accomplished by cementing the component at the appropriate location on the printed circuit board, turning the board upside down, and wave soldering the component to the board. Such a technique is effective, but the wave soldering step subjects the component to very high temperatures which may be destructive to the component.
Another problem associated with mounting a standard tubular fuse on a printed circuit board is the difficulty of labelling the component. Typically, the end caps of a fuse are engraved for identification purposes. However, if the fuse is subjected to the wave soldering technique described above, the solder fills in the engraving, making the identification label illegible.
An alternate labelling technique involves applying linear printing longitudinally across the fuse. However, if the fuse rotates at all during mounting, the label may be partially or completely hidden. Likewise, if the label is applied circumferentially around the body of the fuse, it will be partially hidden from any given viewpoint. A still further technique is to color code the fuse, but such technique is obviously quite limited in descriptiveness.